Caruso's Corner: Recovering from the Adelaide 500

It’s a week after our first race of the 2018 Supercars Championship, and the debut event for Drive Racing, at the Adelaide 500, and I’ve fully recovered from one of the most gruelling races on our calendar.

The Adelaide 500 is a tough way to kick off, as it is one of the most physically demanding races we have. It’s like having a five-set Wimbledon Final without participating in any of the qualifying rounds, as we haven’t raced for a couple of months. And no matter how much physical training I do, you can’t replicate what it’s like driving my Nissan Altima.

We had a decent start to the year, qualifying in the top 10 and finishing ninth in Sunday’s second leg and I’m really encouraged we’ve got more to come in the Drive Racing Altima for 2018.

Anyway, I vividly remember the first time I raced in Adelaide in 2008, and it was really exciting.

Adelaide is renowned for being tough and oppressively hot, so being a rookie heading to your first race - which had its own challenges - I didn’t know exactly what to expect. The 250km races can last anywhere between two and two and a half hours in a cockpit that is usually 25 degrees above the ambient temperature, which means anywhere between 40 and 55 degrees. It’s hot!

Until you complete your first Adelaide 500 you don’t know what you can put your body through. After the first ever event, I knew I’d need to change how I approached the race. I was knackered.

Also, body science has been constantly evolving over the last decade, particularly with physios and personal trainers, which we have now.

So preparing for Adelaide with my personal trainer this year we focused particularly on the cardio side of things in the off-season. We know that body fat contains heat and we know that once you get hot it’s more difficult to lose that heat.

For me, the off-season training was all about being lean for last weekend. But you still need to have the strength to get through those 250km. Being the first round of the year, we’re quite busy outside of the car, with sponsor commitments and team meetings also, so it’s really important to remember to stay hydrated - you really need to be proactive and drinking lots of water throughout the entire weekend.

Before any of the practice and qualifying sessions, and the races especially, I jump into a small pool at the back of our garages to cool down my core temperature. The water is anywhere between 8 and 12 degrees and I stay in there for 10-15 minutes before I go out in the car. When I’m waiting in the garage to go out for a session, I’m wearing an ice vest to maintain that body temperature.

I also jump back into the pool for 15 minutes after the race and ensure I eat and replenish those lost fluids.

Cooling the core temperate is my main focus because the recovery time is crucial. When you have two races to do back-to-back it means you want to be 100 percent again for the following day.

The physical sensations during the race are pretty unique at Adelaide. It’s hot around your feet as well as in the car. Every time you hit the brake pedal you are applying 80kg of force, and you do this 13 times a lap. Because of the heat from the engine and exhaust, that pedal feels like it’s on fire by the end of the race. The safety car periods, which are inevitable at Adelaide because of the street circuit layout and all the concrete walls that surround it, initially feel like a bit of a saviour, providing some relief and time to rest, but the heat and fumes off the other cars tend to make it worse.

We do have water in the car, but as you can imagine if you put a bottle of water in a 55 degree oven it doesn’t stay cool for very long.

The Adelaide circuit itself is extremely physically demanding because it’s a street circuit surrounded by concrete walls with not many straights. When a circuit has a mixture of those three things it doesn’t give you much opportunity for a rest. At places like Bathurst you can have a couple of moments to take a breath, plus there’s the chance for a breeze to offer respite too.

Making it through Adelaide and recovering straight away makes me comfortable for the challenges of the rest of the year.

The next race for me and Drive Racing is the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 22-25. It will be the first time we’ve raced at Albert Park as part of the Supercars championship, which will make it more competitive and challenging.

Thankfully, we’ve come out of Adelaide with a straight car, I’ve recovered well and revved up for it.

To become a member of Drive Racing, click here, and follow Nissan Motorsport on Facebook, Instagram and Flickr for all the latest Supercars updates

Follow Michael Caruso on Facebook and Instagram and join us at Drive on Facebook and Instagram